by Cathy Lloyd, Essence Practitioner

History and Development of Essences

The use of dew on flowers to improve emotions and some physical ailments can be traced back to the Ancient Egypt time period. Australian Aboriginals routinely use flowers in their healing processes. The popularity of flower essences today is largely due to the work of Dr Edward Bach, a 1930's British bacteriologist.

Dr. Bach found water added to a bowl of flowers placed in the sun would retain the unique vibration of the flowers. This process is known as sun infusion. After the infusion process, the water holds an oscillatory pattern that matches the frequency of the flower. The flower water is then diluted with a preservative, typically alcohol and placed in glass dropper bottles for commercial use. These bottles are considered stock bottles (concentrate); 1-4 drops from the stock bottles are used by a practitioner in preparing the dosage (working) bottle; it is from this dosage bottle that an individual will place 1-4 drops under the tongue up to 3 times a day.

The original Bach Flower Essences are comprised of 38 different flowers from the English countryside. Today, there are essences prepared from flowers and gems all over the world. There are essence preparers that have devised ways to capture environmental and astrological vibrations, as well. The terms vibrational essences and elixirs may be used interchangeably with flower and gem essences.

Proofing An Essence

Generally, the preparers of essences work up detailed case-studies on each new essence offered to clinically determine the emotional attributes of each essence. This research form of proofing creates two lists for the practitioners:

1) positive qualities which the essence will enhance

2) imbalances which the essence will possibly correct

Essence Preparation Influences

The qualities of an essence are influenced by the flower or gem's original environment, the season of preparation as well as the specific weather on the day of collection.

The qualities of an essence from the Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia) in Australia (Australian Bush Flower Essences) will be different from an essences prepared he same flower from same flower grown in North America. The quality of the essence from flowers growing in the wild will be different from greenhouse flowers.

Compare this concept to the weather factors influencing the "feel" of a wedding. The feel of a spring wedding on a warm and sunny day is much different from a spring wedding on a cold and rainy day. A light snowfall on a sunny day at a winter wedding would feel fresh and airy compared to having a howling blizzard whipping at the church doors.

Use of a Preservative

In order to improve the shelf life of an essence, it is necessary to use a preservative in the stock bottle as well as the dosage (working) bottle. Commercial prepares of stock essences use alcohol with the content ranging from 20-66%. The shelf life of a stock bottle of essences with 66% alcohol is 3 years, without alcohol the shelf life is two weeks. Typically, the stock bottle is not used directly by an individual.

The dosage bottle used by an individual is prepared in a 30 ml dropper bottle which contains 20 ml of spring water, 10 ml of preservative (apple cider vinegar, vegetable glycerin or alcohol) and up to 4 drops of individual stock essences. One to ten stock essences may be used in the preparation of the dosage bottle. ***With apple cider vinegar or vegetable glycerin as the preservative in the dosage bottle, the alcohol from the stock bottles is diluted to1 in 600.

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Copyright 2006 Cathy Lloyd, Essence Practitioner, www.auniqueapproach.com

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